The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942)

Calificación de los usuarios:

7.7/10   

Director:

William Keighley

Escritores:

Julius J. Epstein (screenplay)
Philip G. Epstein (screenplay)

Fecha de Lanzamiento:

1 enero 1942 (USA)

Género:

Comedia | Romance

Plot:

When acerbic critic Sheridan Whiteside slips on the front steps of a provincial Ohio businessman's home and breaks his hip, he and his entourage take over the house indefinitely.

Plot Keywords:

Radio | Critic | Lecturer | Newspaper | Local Newspaper

Comentarios de los usuarios:

"Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to go.....Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to stay....."

Reparto

Bette Davis	...	Maggie Cutler
Ann Sheridan	...	Lorraine Sheldon
Monty Woolley	...	Sheridan Whiteside
Richard Travis	...	Bertram H. 'Bert' Jefferson
Jimmy Durante	...	Banjo
Billie Burke	...	Daisy Stanley
Reginald Gardiner	...	Beverly Carlton
Elisabeth Fraser	...	June Stanley
Grant Mitchell	...	Ernest W. Stanley
George Barbier	...	Dr. E. Bradley
Mary Wickes	...	Nurse Preen
Russell Arms	...	Richard Stanley
Ruth Vivian	...	Harriet Stanley
Edwin Stanley	...	John
Betty Roadman	...	Sarah

También conocida como:

El hombre que vino a cenar (Venezuela) [es]
Hombre que vino a cenar (Spain) [es]

Duración:

112 min

País:

USA

Idioma:

Inglés

Color:

Negro y Blanco

Relación de Aspecto:

1.37 : 1

Sonido:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Clasificación:

Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | Australia:G

Compañía:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivialidades:

Late in December 1941, the film's world premiere was hosted by the Capitol Theatre in Paragould, Arkansas - the home town of star Richard Travis (aka Bill Justice), who had been one of the theater's employees.

Citas:

Sheridan Whiteside: [opening a box of candy] Ah, pecan butternut fudge!
Nurse Preen: Oh, my, you mustn't eat candy, Mr. Whiteside, it's very bad for you.
Sheridan Whiteside: My great aunt Jennifer ate a whole box of candy every day of her life. She lived to be 102 and when she'd been dead three days she looked better than you do *now!*

Conexiones de Película:

Referenced in "Mama's Family: The Mama Who Came to Dinner (#2.10)" (1983)

"Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to go.....Did you ever have the feeling that you wanted to stay....."

Worlds collide in The Man Who Came to Dinner. Sheridan Whiteside noted critic and acerbic wit gets a meal while on a lecture tour at the very respectable Rotarian home of Mr.and Mrs. Stanley in small town Ohio. Upon leaving their home, Whiteside trips going down their porch stairs and breaks a leg. He's then confined to their home and literally takes over the place.

Authors George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart use The Man Who Came for Dinner as an opportunity to satirize both their elite world of ideas and wits and the stifling world of small town Ohio. There are so many concurrent plot lines going in this story, I can't begin to list them all. Suffice it to say that just corraling them all together to make a coherent play was enough of a triumph for Kaufman and Hart.

The play ran on Broadway from 1939 to 1941 for 739 performances. Besides Monty Woolley in the title role the only other two cast members who came over from Broadway were Ruth Vivian as the pixillated sister of Mr. Stanley and Mary Wickes as Ms. Preen the much put upon nurse that has to deal with Woolley's insults. Though Ruth Vivian made only one other screen appearance besides The Man Who Came To Dinner, Mary Wickes had an over 50 year career in Hollywood right up to her appearances in the Sister Act films.

Though a whole lot of people, most particularly Orson Welles in a made for television movie, have played Sheridan Whiteside the part has remained Monty Woolley's. The Whiteside character is based on fellow Algonquin Club member Alexander Woollcott who like Woolley was acerbic, witty and gay. You will also recognize Noel Coward in Reginald Gardiner, Gertrude Lawrence in Ann Sheridan, and Jimmy Durante lampooning his fellow comedian, Harpo Marx. Though Harpo never said a word in film, he was every bit the wit his brother Groucho was and more.

Bette Davis who was fighting for better roles continually with Jack Warner takes the supporting part as Woolley's wise and efficient girl Friday. You won't see any of Bette's real talent here, she's not the center of the film. But she did agree to appear in this to give the film a box office name. I think she did it because she liked the play and wanted to be associated with the screen version.

Could it be done with references to today's celebrities instead of those of 1939? Very easily and I can see the persona of Sheridan Whiteside today embodied in Rush Limbaugh.

If The Man Who Came to Dinner is broadcast again, don't ever miss an opportunity to see a great American piece of literature performed.